5.3 magnitude quake rattles Kahramanmaraş

KAHRAMANMARAŞ

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake has rattled the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the deadly Feb. 6 earthquakes, the tremor was also felt and caused panic in the neighboring provinces that have already experienced severe destruction last month.

The quake occurred at 12:19 p.m. in the Göksun district, and its depth was determined to be 7 kilometers, the country’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) announced.

Other 4.0 and 4.2 magnitude earthquakes followed the first tremor, while AFAD announced there is no loss of life or collapsed buildings in the provinces.

On the other hand, expert Şükrü Ersoy warned that a 5.3 tremor could cause severe destruction in buildings that have already been heavily damaged by the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes.

Emphasizing that the last earthquake was felt strongly due to its proximity to the surface, Ersoy added that 4 and 5 magnitude aftershocks will continue to shake the quake-hit provinces for a while.

As of March 20, more than 19,000 aftershocks have occurred in the 11 quake-hit provinces, stated Orhan Tatar, one of the senior officials of AFAD.

“There are 485 active fault lines in Türkiye. Their total length is 14,500 kilometers. A total of 19,126 aftershocks occurred. You can observe an aftershock every three or four minutes in the last 43 days,” Tatar explained.

At least 50,096 people died in the devastating Feb. 6 earthquakes, while over 107,000 people were injured in the quake disaster.

Approximately 2 million earthquake survivors are staying in 316 tent cities, Sezer stated.

Damage assessment studies were carried out on about 1.8 million buildings following the deadly quakes, and 37,066 buildings were deemed high risk and were demolished.